Posts Tagged ‘sausage making’

How many times have you wished there was a better option than the pepperoni down at the local grocery store? Tired of the lousy pepperoni on that store bought pizza? Are the crackers of a better quality than the pepperoni on your snack platter? Well you’re in luck, with this homemade pepperoni recipe you can make your own quality homemade pepperoni with ease.

In this recipe for homemade pepperoni you will have the option of making the pepperoni in one of two ways.

The first option is the traditional way to make homemade pepperoni. To make your homemade pepperoni in this fashion, follow the recipe below (except for the liquid smoke) and then stuff into hog casings. After you stuff the homemade pepperoni you will need to smoke and dry the pepperoni in your smoker.

The next way to make thishomemade pepperoni is the quick and easy recipe. In this method all you need to do is follow the recipe below, and then let the mixture rest in your fridge for 48-72 hours. After that you can form the homemade pepperoni into logs and bake in the oven at 200* for 8 hours.

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Grind 5 pounds of fresh beef from chuck or round, or use 5 pounds of fresh ground beef from the store. Mix togetherthe beef and the dry ingredients and place the homemade pepperoni mixture in the fridge for 48-72 hours. After it has been in the fridge follow one of the methods above for making your homemade pepperoni.

Almost all homemade sausage recipes call for your sausage to be stuffed into a sausage casing. If you’re not sure as to what kind of sausage casing to use for your homemade sausage you can to the right place. There are different types of sausage casings you can use and the type of homemade sausage you are making will help to determine what kind of sausage casing you are going to need to use for it.

Natural Sausage Casings

Natural casings
are by far the most popular choice when it comes to casings for the home sausage maker. They are referred to as natural because they are derived from the intestines of hogs, sheep, and cattle.

Natural casings come in different sizes. The most common being hog casings. These are the casing that you would use for homemade Italian sausage, kielbasa, bratwurst, or any other homemade sausage that you would like to be that size around in diameter. If your looking for a smaller size sausage casing you would choose sheep casings. These casings are smaller in diameter than that of hog casings and are commonly used for making breakfast links and snack sticks. The largest of all of the natural sausage casings are beef casings. You would use beef casings if you are making summer sausage or ring bologna.

Most of the time you will need to order your natural casings online. They are sold in packs for making a certain amount of sausage in pounds. Make sure you order enough so you have plenty to finish your homemade sausage. Any extra can be stored for future use in the fridge.

Collagen Sausage Casings

Collagen casings are an edible casing made from cattle by products. The advantage to using collagen casings is the consistent size, unlike that of the natural casings.

The most popular application for collagen casings is for making smoked snack sticks, they are perfect for that. You can also find collagen casings in larger sizes for making sausages with a larger diameter.

One thing to keep in mind when using collagen casings is they are not as strong as natural casings. With the collagen casings being more tender they tend to break if hung in the smoker. If you plan on smoking your homemade sausage look for extra thick collagen casings that are designed for smoking. Just ask your supplier, most will carry the thicker collagen casings.

Fibrous Sausage Casings

Fibrous casings are made from paper and have a protein coating on the inside. As the case with all synthetic casings, fibrous casings are not edible.

Fibrous casings come in many different sizes and colors. Because they are so tough fibrous casings are very easy to stuff. The most common sausages made with fibrous casings are summer sausage and salami.

The most important thing to remember when using fibrous casings is that they are not edible. Any homemade sausage that you make with fibrous casings most have the paper peeled off before you eat them.

As you can see there are many different types of sausage casings for one to choose from. Although natural casings are the most popular choice, don’t be afraid to give some of the other casings a try.

As any good hunter will tell you, you must put the meat that you bring you to good use. What better way of using the meat than by making your own homemade venison sausage.

Now don’t get scared. Making your own homemade venison sausage isn’t any more difficult than making homemade sausage out of meat that you would purchase at your local grocery store.

When it comes to making homemade sausage out of venison there are a few things that you need to keep it mind. Because of the low fat content of the venison, you will need to add fat to your sausage. Where as a low fat meat may be desired for some foods, sausage it is not. If you don’t have enough fat the sausage will be dry and not very flavorful. You need to strive for at least 20% fat for a good tasting sausage. You can reach this amount of fat be adding pork or beef fat to the venison when you grind it. Plan ahead, ask your local grocery store or meat market to save some fat for you. Most will be happy to do so.

The next most important thing to remember when making your homemade venison sausage is that venison and most game has a stronger flavor than domestic meat. The stronger flavor of the venison will overpower the spices of you venison sausage if you’re not careful. All you need to do to fix this issue is to add a little more of your seasonings to help balance the flavor.

Easy Venison Sausage Recipe

5 lb Venison and Fat Mix (at least 20% fat)

1/2 cup Dry Red Wine

2 tbsp Sea Salt

2 tbsp Cracked Black Pepper

2 tbsp Sugar

1 tsp Ginger

1 tsp Nutmeg

Mix together the dry ingredients in a small bowl. After you have ground the venison and fat, mix in the dry ingredients along with the red wine. Place the sausage mix in the fridge and let it cool. After you have given your venison sausage time to cool off you can begin stuffing. Stuff your homemade venison sausage in hog casings, then link and enjoy.

Don’t let the idea of making sausage out of venison scare you. You can make venison sausage with any recipe for domestic sausage, just keep in mind the need for the extra fat and spices and you will do just fine.

Linguica sausage is a Portuguesesausage that is seasoned with garlic and paprika. Making your own homemade linguica can be quick and easy. All you need is some fresh pork and a few simple ingredients. As with all homemade sausages the key to making good linguica is making sure you select quality meat to make your sausage with. You can use ground pork from your local grocery store or you can purchase pork shoulder butt and grind it yourself. Now that you have the right meat for making linguica sausage, lets get down to business. Here is the list of ingredients.

(This recipe is for fresh linguica, not cured. We use liquid smoke to simulate the taste of the linguica being cured and smoked.)

Homemade Linguica Sausage

5 lb Fresh Ground Pork

3 tbsp Paprika

2 tbsp Chopped Garlic

5 tsp Sea Salt

1 tbsp Liquid Smoke

1 tbsp Sugar

1/2 cup Red Wine

3 tsp Black Pepper

2 tsp Oregano

2 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Combine all of the dry ingredients together and mix well. Add all of the dry ingredients to your gound pork along with the red wine and liquid smoke. Mix all of the sausage ingredients together and place in the fridge to get cool. After the linguica has had time to cool, it’s time to stuff. Stuff your homemade linguica into hog casings, link them, and enjoy.

I hope you enjoy this recipe for homemade linguica sausage as much as I do. Good luck and happy sausage making.

Have you ever wanted to make Homemade Summer Sausage but you thought it was just too hard?
Have you said to yourself “I can’t make Summer Sausage, I don’t even own a smoker”.
Well you’re in luck. I have the easiest homemade summer sausage recipe you’ll ever use. And you don’t even need a smoker. All you need for this great tasting summer sausage recipe is a few simple ingredients and your oven. That’s it! Now let’s get started.

Mix all of the ingredients in a large container, cover the summer sausage mixture, and place in the fridge. You will need to keep the sausage in the fridge for the next three days taking it out to mix the sausage once a day. The reason for the additional time in the cooler is to let the quick cure do it’s magic. Now that you have waited all that time for youe sausage to cure itsd time to cook your summer sausage. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F. Form your summer sausage into logs or stuff into fibrous casings and bake on a rack for 8 hours. Let them cool on paper towels. After they have cooled, slice and serve. I hope you enjoy this homemade summer sausage recipe as much as I do. See I told you it was easy.

I think I get requests for homemade chicken sausage recipes more than any other kind of sausage. Here is an easy homemade chicken sausage recipe I know the whole family will enjoy.

First off, before we start making the homemade sausage, let’s talk chicken. If you are making homemade chicken sausage so you can eat sausage with less fat and calories then you will want to use boneless skinless chicken breast for your homemade chicken sausage. If you’re not concerned with the fat or calories I suggest that you use boneless skinless chicken thighs. The thighs contain a higher percentage of fat, thus giving your homemade chicken sausage a more flavorable taste.

Mix together all of the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Cut the chicken into small cubes. Chop the onion and add it to the chicken cubes. Grind the chicken and the onion together. Mix the ground chicken and onion with the dry ingredients. After you mix them you can make a small patty out of the mixture and pan fry it to test the flavor of your homemade chicken sausage. If you’re happy with the taste of your sausage, place the mixture in the fridge to get cool. Now that your sausage has had time to cool off it’s time to stuff your chicken sausage. Your can use hog casings for a larger sausage, or you can use sheep casings for a small diameter sausage, it’s your choice. Once you finish stuffing your homemade chicken sausage your can cook it right then and freeze the remaining sausage for future use. I hope you enjoy this recipe for homemade chicken sausage as much as I do. Have fun making it.

If you love sausage, I mean really love homemade sausage, you most definitely came to the right place. Store bought sausage, although they can be quite tasty, do not even come close to the quality and flavour of homemade sausage.

Learning to make your own sausage doesn’t need to be a scary or difficult task to take on. Once you get started you will find it is much easier than you probably thought.In a short amount of time you will impress your friends and family with your sausage making skills. When you make your own homemade sausage you get to make your way, with your own ingredients. The next time you go out shopping take a look at that package of store bought sausage, now look at the label, I know you can’t pronounce half of the ingredients on the list. How can that be good for you? Not only are store bought sausages full of preservatives, you also do not know the quality of the meat the sausage was produced with. When you make your own homemade sausage you control the whole process from start to finish.

Now that you know the benefitsyou gain from making your own homemade sausage, let us look at some of the basic items you need to get started. When it comes to meat the options are endless. You can use anything from wild game to store bought ground pork. You can choose to buy the meat already ground from the grocery store or you can grind your own. Both options are perfectly acceptable, but you just get a great feeling of accomplishment when you grind your own meat for your sausage. If you decide to grind your own meat at home you will need to choose a meat grinder. Once you have the grinder you can add a stuffing tube to the grinder or you can purchase a stand alone sausage stuffer. Both work just fine but if you plan on making a large amount of sausage, or you are going to be making it often a sausage stuffer will make life much easier. You will also need casings to stuff your sausage. You can use natural or synthetic it’s up to you. And don’t forget the seasonings. This is where you get to put your own personal stamp on it to make it YOUR SAUSAGE.

With these basic materials you will be on your way to making your homemade sausage. It doesn’t matter if your trying to make bratwurst, kielbasa, or country sausage for that special breakfast, you can become a sausage expert in no time. Just use Homemade-Sausage.net as a resource to start you travel down the road to making the ultimate homemade sausage. With the help that you will find here, you can begin your sausage making journey with confidence and enjoy making your own homemade sausage right out of the gates. Check out the sausage recipes section to help get you started. Be sure to check back often for updates, or if you run into trouble with your sausage making, we can help fix it. Thank you for stopping by, and happy sausage making.

Getting the meat ready
I’m going to start with a very basic outline of how to make your own homemade sausage at home. Making your own homemade sausage does not need to be a difficult or scary task. The first step to making sausage is to pick the meat for your sausage. The easiest meat to start with is pork shoulder (sometimes labeled as pork butt). Any meat can be used for making sausage, you can use beef, chicken, lamb, or any meat you can think of. Most sausage recipe that you find will call for pork to be used so we will use pork in this example. You can purchase this at your local meat market or grocery store.
Start by removing the bone. After the bone is removed cut the piece of meat into small cubes. The size of the cubes is going to depend on how big your grinder is. The smaller your grinder, the smaller the cubes need to be.
Once you have finished cutting the meat you are going to need to weigh it. This is an important step. You need an accurate weight so you can calculate the amount of seasonings you will need for your homemade sausage. Your meat is now prepared and ready to grind. One final and critical step before you grind is to chill the meat. This step is very important. I find the best way to do this is to lay the meat out on a pan and put in your freezer for about 20 min. just to form a crust on the outside of the meat. With the meat slightly frozen it will be much easier to grind. Now it’s time to grind the meat. You can do this with a hand grinder or an electric grinder. If you have a kitchen aid stand mixer you can purchase a grinder attachment for it (great for making small batches of homemade sausage). The grinding process heats up the meat so after grinding place it in the fridge to cool it back down.

Mixing the homemade sausage
After the meat has cooled in the fridge it’s time to mix your spices into the meat. You can use a premix or a recipe, its up to you. Just a warning- If you use a premix it will most likely contain preservatives. Take your spices and mix them in a bowl before you add them to the meat. Add the mixed spices to the meat along with ice cold water, about 1/2 cup for every 10 pounds of homemade sausage. The water makes it easier to mix, and makes it easier to stuff into the casings. With your hands mix the meat and spices together.

Stuffing your homemade sausage
You’ve made it to the home stretch. It’s all downhill from here. Start by attaching the stuffing tube to the head of your grinder. You will need to decide the type of casing you will be using for your homemade sausage, natural or collagen. I use the natural casings, but it’s just a matter of personal preference. If you choose natural casings you will want to flush them in a little warm water before you use them. You can do this in your sink. Just run some water into the casings and place them in a bowl with a little water. Now it’s time to start stuffing. Slide the casing onto the stuffing tube and tie the end of the casing.Place the sausage meat into the hopper of your grinder. Using the pusher, start running the sausage thru the tube and into the casing. Work in small batches so the meat will stay cooler. Just take enough meat out of your fridge that you can stuff in a 10 min. time span. The warmer the meat gets the harder it is to stuff. After you finish running thru all of the meat into your casings you can link up your sausage and get it ready for the freezer.